Business Services
Frequently Asked Questions
Page Content
General
Q. What does the Business Services Office do?
A. Business Services bills students and third-party sponsors, posts charges to student accounts, sends refunds for credit balances, and accept payments and departmental deposits. If you have questions about financial aid awards, please contact the Financial Aid Office. If you have questions about your registration, please contact the Registrar’s Office.
Q. Where is Business Services located?
A. Hattiesburg: Forrest County Hall, Room 101. Gulf Park Campus: Student Services One Stop, Hardy Hall, 1st Floor.
Q. What are your office hours?
A. The lobby is open between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday during normal business days.
Q. How can I check my account balance?
A. Log in to your SOAR Student Dashboard and click on Student Accounts (left side) and go to the What I Owe - Account Details page. Students are encouraged to check account balances frequently.
Q. What is the last day to drop a class and receive a refund?
A. Students can find drop dates for each semester by visiting Withdrawals and Tuition Credits.
Q. I registered for an intersession course. How is the tuition calculated?
A. Tuition for intersession courses will be included in the tuition rate for regular session courses. There will be an additional intersession fee of $20 per credit hour charged for each intersession course.
Q. I am registered for full time hours this semester. If I add an intersession course, will the total cost of tuition change?
A. If your total amount of hours stay within the full-time range of 12-19 hours for undergraduates, no. If your total amount of hours exceed 19, you will be charged per hour over the full-time tuition rate.
Q. I am an out-of-state student will I be charged Additional Non-Resident Tuition for an intersession course?
A. Yes. These hours are included in the tuition rate for regular session courses which is charged the Additional Non-Resident Tuition.
Refunds
Q. How do I receive my refund?
A. All student refunds are processed through BankMobile. For more information about BankMobile visit BankMobileDisbursements.com. USM does not offer the option to receive a paper check.
Q. I don’t expect to receive a refund. Do I need to select a refund preference?
A. Yes. If you ever have a credit balance on your student account, you must have a refund method selected.
Q. May I come by the Business Office to pick up my refund?
A. All student refunds are processed through BankMobile, and are not available on campus
Q. Who do I contact with questions concerning my BankMobile Vibe account?
A. Please visit https://bankmobilevibe.com/contact-us/.
Payment
Q. How can I make a payment on my student account?
A. You have several options for making payments- Pay with a credit/debit card or eCheck via SOAR. Log In and click on Student Account (left side) then Make a Payment. Pop-up blockers will prevent the page from loading. There is a 2.95% convenience
fee to pay by debit/credit card and a convenience fee of $0.50 per eCheck.
- Pay in person using cash, check, cashier's check or money order in the Hattiesburg lobby between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (No credit/debit cards)
- Pay in person using check, cashier's check or money order at the Student Services
One Stop on the Gulf Park Campus between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (no
cash or debit/credit cards)
- Check payments may be placed in the drop box located to the left of the front door of Forrest County Hall (payments made after 3:00 p.m. will be posted the next business day)
- Check payments may be mailed to USM Business Services, 118 College Drive Box # 5133, Hattiesburg, MS 39406. Please be sure to write your student ID number on the face of the check.
- An Installment Payment Plan can be set up for current semester balances.
- International Students can pay using an international wire transfer via the instructions listed HERE.
Q. May I use my financial aid for this term to pay a previous term balance?
A. Financial aid may only be applied to the term in which it was allocated. It may not be used to pay previous term balances.
Q. What if my balance is never paid in full?
A. Please see Delinquent Accounts.
Billing
Q. When do I have to pay my bill?
A. Billing Schedule and Due Dates.
Q. I did not receive a bill. What do I do?
A. As of March 2012, the University no longer mails monthly billing statements or Fee Invoices. Monthly notifications will be sent via email to your usm.edu email address when you have a bill available. You can access your online statement by clicking on the View Invoices link in the Student Account section of SOAR. Choose the latest invoice generated. Please check your usm.edu email account regularly.
Q. My bill is wrong. What should I do?
A. If you have a question about tuition, contact our office at business.servicesFREEMississippi. If you have a question about a department charge, you must contact the department which placed the charge on your account.
Financial Aid
Q. Why hasn’t my financial aid posted to my SOAR account?
A. There are many reasons why financial aid may not have posted. If you have turned in all required documentation, please contact the Financial Aid office. The most common reasons financial aid has not posted are listed below.
- The student failed to register for the correct number of course units.
- The Financial Aid office has not received additional information requested.
- The student is not making satisfactory academic progress.
- The University has not yet received the scholarship or loan.
Q. When can I expect a refund from the proceeds of my financial aid?
A. After classes start and financial aid has posted to student accounts, we notify BankMobile weekly to release your refunds via the refund method selected when you setup your refund preference.
Q. What is a Perkins loan?
A. A Perkins loan is a need based federal loan given through the University. Unfortunately, these loans are not available for disbursement at this time.
Q. I turned in an outside scholarship. When will it be posted to my account?A. On average, it takes about two weeks for scholarship checks to post to your student account once a term has begun.
1098-T Forms
Please note: The University of Southern Mississippi does not provide tax or legal advice. The decision as to whether you qualify for an education tax credit should be determined in consultation with your personal tax advisor or the Internal Revenue Service.
Q. What is Form 1098-T?
A. Form 1098-T is an information tax document to aid taxpayers in determining whether they are able to claim a tax deduction or one of the education tax credits (Hope Credit - generally applies to 2008 and earlier tax years, American Opportunity Credit, or Lifetime Learning Credit)
Q. How can I get a copy of my 1098-T?
A. You can view and print your current or prior 1098-T forms online at any time by logging into SOAR. Go to Student Account/ View 1098-T.
Q. Why didn't I receive a 1098-T?
A. Institutions are not required to furnish a 1098-T to non-resident aliens; to individuals whose qualified tuition and related expenses are waived or paid with scholarships or grants; to individuals enrolled in noncredit courses only; or to those individuals whose calculations net to zero.
Q. I did not receive a 1098-T. Where can I get USM's tax ID number?
A. If you would like to request USM's tax ID number, please submit your request to taxcomplianceFREEMississippi. Please indicate your name, USM ID number and reason for your request. PLEASE BE ADVISED: USM is prohibited from providing legal, tax or accounting advice to students. USM is not responsible for any use you make of this information. If using this information to claim an education credit, please make sure you are qualified. Keep copies of all documents used to determine the amount of your credit and qualification. If the IRS audits your refund and finds your claim is incorrect and you don't have documents to show you qualified, you must pay back the amount of credit you received in error with interest. The IRS may also charge an accuracy or a fraud penalty. You can be banned from claiming the credit for two to ten years. See https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/education-credits-aotc-llc .